Last Stand
by escalus01
Summary: We know of his father but what of his mother? What happened to her, to make her leave her son alone? Oneshot.


**Disclaimer: **I do not own Naruto.

**Warning: **Death of a character.

**Last Stand**

After she had lain her baby in his crib Uzumaki Kushina let out a deep sigh and allowed herself to fall back onto her old, worn out single bed. For once she was glad of the years she had spent drifting, they made the squalor she currently lived in a lot more bearable which was quiet a feet.

Over a year ago, about a week after the Kyuubi no Yoko had attacked and she had lost her husband, she had returned home only to find that it was no longer her home. Apparently that house was only for the Hokage and his family and because the Yondaime was no longer Hokage she was no longer welcome, even though the Sandaime had not yet been re-instated at that point. They would not even allow her in to retrieve any of her possessions but, they had assured her, they had secured her suitable accommodation.

Returning to the present Kushina allowed her eyes to roam around the tiny apartment's, only bedroom. Suitable accommodation? Yeah right. The paint was peeling off the walls, the ceiling was cracked, the furniture was old and falling apart and to top it all off there were not exactly in the nice part of town. No parent in their right mind would raise a child her, but she did not have a choice, she did not have enough money to repair or replace anything in her current home much less move to a new one. The living allowance allocated to her during the first couple of months had been pitiful and when old man Sarutobi had tried to increase it the council, lead by Danzo had fought him tooth and nail. Even now that she was working at the ramen stand and with her boss paying her as much as he could afford she still barely made enough to cover both food and rent. It had gotten to the point where Teuchi was having to let her take the leftovers home with her.

She looked up at the old, battered table opposite her bed and caught sight of the few personal possessions that the Sandaime had managed to recover and return to her. A number of small trinkets and a locket engraved with a spiral were now the only things she had left from her homeland. There were also a few pictures, none of which shown Minato, those ones had mysteriously disappeared when the council had seized the house.

Most of the people of the village were not exactly being helpful either. Because of the state of the village after the Kyuubi's attack the identity of her son's father was made a state secret and people had seemed only too happy to forget. She could not help a derisive chuckle as she remembered this. The move had apparently been made to keep her child safe from outside threats but it turned out the greatest threat to him came from within the village's own walls. She had lost count of the number of people who had tried to harm her son, or in some cases her. Fortunately it had not taken long for her skills as a ninja to return to their old sharpness. It also helped that she was the greatest kunoichi of all time, self-proclaimed sure, but that did not mean it was not true! And it was not like she needed the full extent of her skills when most of the attackers were civilians and low-level ninjas but still. Anyway that was beside the point; the point was they trying to harm an innocent child, _her_ innocent child. What made it worse was that that some of them were people she knew.

With a few notable exceptions those that had once called her or Minato friend now took great pains to avoid her, mostly things like crossing the street or doubling back on themselves if they saw her coming. What hurt more though were rumours and gossip that people spread about her behind her back. Most of them were pure garbage but one or two contained little, almost negligible truths. Truths that none but those who had been close to her could know.

She did have a few friends left though, like old Hiruzen although he could not get away from work often for obvious reason, there was Kakashi but his visits were becoming less and less frequent. In fact the only person who visited her with any kind of regularity was Rin.

Kushina sighed; thinking about her situation only caused her to feel so depressed sometimes she felt like giving up, but she refused to give into to that sometimes overwhelming thought. For Naruto's sake if nothing else she would struggle on, she would continue to fight for at least a little dignity for her and her son.

There came a knock at the door to the apartment and she rose from her bed and moved to answer. At least it was not another debt collector; she could tell from the knock, they had not been loud and booming but soft and gentle, requesting rather than demanding entry. Actually she thought she might know who it was and sure enough when she opened the door there stood a brown-haired Kunoichi who looked to be in her mid-to-late teens.

"Hello, Kushina-san." Said the girl, bowing slightly.

"Hey Rin-chan, come in."

Rin complied slipping of her sandals by the door before proceeding the rest of the way into the apartment.

As she watched the girl walk into what she laughingly thought of as the living room Kushina sighed. She could only think of one way out of her current predicament, she would have to ask the Hokage to return her to active service. That also meant that she would have to ask Rin for a favour because she was not about to ask anyone she did not know to watch her son.

- - -

The heavy rain and strong winds lashed, mercilessly against the exposed areas of her skin and the wound in her side stung viscously. Yet still she ran, she would survive, she would not allow her son to become an orphan.

She would not!

Still somewhere deep inside she knew she was not coming back from this one.

Damn Danzo! Damn him to what ever hell awaited traitors and murderers, damn him! She wished that bastard an extremely slow and excruciating death.

The Hokage had wanted to keep her on D-class missions for at least a year using the excuse that she had only just returned to service after so long off. Despite the fact that D-class missions involved some of the most monotonous and boring tasks on earth she had been inclined to agree. Yet somehow those old clowns on the council had forced him into giving her this mission.

Rumours had spread recently about a civil war taking place within Kirigakure no Sato, her mission had been to take her two assigned partners and infiltrate the village in order to discover the truth. Everything had gone fine at first, but somehow Danzo had managed to sneak to of his root operatives in as her partners. She had seen the back attack coming just in time to avoid a fatal blow but had received the severe wound in her side instead. Still she had managed to take down both men and leave one alive enough to answer her questions.

Midway through the interrogation her captive had started laughing a high, lunatic laugh and she had suddenly become aware that there were people closing in on her from all sides. Cursing under her breath she punched the traitor in the throat and took of, leaving him to choke to death on his collapsed bronchial-tube.

She crested a small hill and saw that somehow despite the torrential rain, there was a full moon out tonight. She also noticed that she was now surrounded.

Though she had cursed it before she was thankful of the rain because it the tears that were slowly leaking from the corners of her eyes. She made no attempt to hide these tears as they were not for herself but for the child who must now grow-up an orphan. And she was grateful to the wind that hid her words from her enemy.

"I'm sorry Naruto. I'm so sorry my son."

She drew two kunai from the holster on her right leg, if she was to make the journey into the next life she would not be making it alone.

- - -

Later that night Hanzou the leader of Kirigakure no Sato would receive a report from his scouts. The report would state that the team sent to dispose of the spy Danzo had warned him about had all been found dead but the spy herself was nowhere to be seen.

He would not get to ponder the meaning of this long for shortly afterward the sound of fighting would erupt from the hallway just outside his bedchamber and a person he had believed dead would return to repay the favour.

- - -

As the dawn broke over the horizon Uzumaki Kushina sat leaning against the trunk of a cherry-blossom tree. The tree was in full bloom and a small river flowed by right beside her.

She almost laughed at the idea that she got to die in an idyllic scene that would not look too bad hanging on some rich guy's wall. Almost but not quite, for thoughts of death brought about thoughts of just what, or rather who, she would be leaving behind.

She was covered in wounds by this point and had lost so much blood that every part of her felt weak. She knew beyond any doubt that she would not see her son again, not in this world anyway.

Her thoughts turned to sadness as she imagined all the things that she would never get to see, all the things she would never get to experience, she would never get to see him become a man. His first steps, his first words, his first girlfriend… would he choose to be a ninja like his parents? Or would choose something else? If he got married would she approve of the girl?

Suddenly she thought she could see the future and she saw him, he looked a lot like his father. He was wearing a long coat, that was the red of flames and standing atop the Hokage monument staring down at the village almost as though watching over it.

As her last breath escaped her body Uzumaki Kushina was smiling and the cherry-blossoms turned red as they fell around her.

Half an hour later a man came strolling alongside the river and noticed her lying under that tree. The man was well built and had spiky, white hair that was drawn back into a long ponytail. He recognised her immediately for he had been sent to find her, but it seemed he had gotten the Sandaime's message too late.

The man buried her under the same tree under which he had found her and offered a small prayer for her soul. A prayer from a sage should be worth something after all. He also took a vow, a vow to keep a careful watch on her son until he was old enough to look after himself.

His prayer spoken and his vow taken the man left. After that day none would tread upon that piece of land until a blond boy tired after much hardship would seek rest under that very tree.

- - -

So what did you think? Was it good or not so good? Personally I am unsure whether it was a bit much including the "blond boy" at the end. Although I myself don't know whether he was seeking "rest" or "eternal rest" you get to decide that one for yourselves.

As always constructive criticism is appreciated so please read and review.


End file.
